Britain's 1st full-length Motorway (M1) opens, 1959 

Hi Gerald, I’m working for a TV company in Leeds called True North. I’m currently doing some research on the history of the M1 for a new TV programme. I’d be really interested to hear more about any memories you have from that day and to talk to you about the series. If you’re willing to spare a few minutes to talk to me, you can contact me at kbamforth@truenorth.tv Thanks

It made my dads life when we had a bypass built in town. Up until then it was go and play on the m40. That soon changed to go and play on the bypass.

Hi, I’m working for a TV company in Leeds called True North. I’m currently doing some research on the history of the M1 for a new TV programme. I’d be really interested to hear more about any memories you have from that day and to talk to you about the series. If you’re willing to spare a few minutes to talk to me, you can contact me at kbamforth@truenorth.tv

My great uncle engineered that

And soft.

@@alvarocoronel67 softie.

they were driving into certain doom, what else could he do with the technology back then?

Greatest quote ever.

Then a few cars stopped right in the petrol, you could hear the screams but they soon stopped so I presume everything was alright and went on my way.

The bridges were designed to bounce people back into their side of the motorway.

We're absolutely addicted to a pastoral pastiche of the good old days. If it doesn't look like a 1920s Rupert annual it's no good.

Thank you, karl pilkington

That's true but the m1 was the first full length motorway, the Preston by pass was first part motorway built (m6)

What is a full length Motorway? What a stupid comment. A Motorway is a Motorway. Anyhow the M1 is not yet a 'full length' motorway as it does not go to Edinburgh.

The Roast Pig ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AGkBSEeJ5o.html

True Roast Pig! And it was built in 1958 without any central reservation barriers either if my memory serves me correctly!

chanctonbury63 Berlin AVUS early 1920s

100E if I remember rightly.

Given that British industry did have technical competence and innovation thanks to its rearmament's requirements in WW2, you've got to wonder what the fuck happened that it could not sustain it's industrial capabilities? I just watched another of these Brit docos and it was illuminating that by 1959, the port city of Yokohama, Japan was emerging as a ship building behemoth.... fast forward 30 years and its South Korean shipyards pumping out ships. Hmm. Maybe I just answered the 'what the fuck' part.

yeah I think the reason germany and japan recovered so quickly was because of the massive amount of financial aid given to them to get back on their feet! England of course being one of the allies got no aid at all and had to recover under its own steam. vw is a good example. an anglo american project to build hitlers forgotten beetle.to get the german economy going, and the german people mobile again, thats how vw started, with our money and personel. once we got it going we just gave it back to them, and off they went. that happened in all industries in japan and germany!

Think youre pretty much right.I was in hospital not long before Christmas with a broken leg and there was an old boy in the next bed who had gone to Germany in 1949 with the army.,further east the Berlin airlift was happening so in the western half of Germany the allies were just chucking money at them. The idea being so those under Russian control might rebel when they found out how things were in the western part. and more importantly to stop the rise of Nazism as apparently there were still more than a few Nazi sympathisers.around.

Ford of America sent their top engineer to take a look at the VW Beetle--with a view to buying the company. He wrote back that --among other negatives ---'The engine sounds like a clapped out stone crusher, and this company has no commercial value what-so-ever.'' Worse than Decca turning down the Beatles'.

Now's the moment to check your figures: Britain got more Marshall Aid than any country - almost as much, in fact, as the next two countries added together

In denari it is 52 per gallon. In those days the currency system was in £ s d, which was known as 'pounds shillings and pence' but the symbols actually stood for 'librum solidus denari', therefore in that system 1 denari was 1 penny. Four and threepence was 52p, hence 52 denari per gallon.